Rosario Candela

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Rosario Candela
Personal information
Name Rosario Candela
Nationality Italian-American
Birth date March 07, 1890
Birth place Montelepre, Sicily
Date of death October 03, 1953
Work
Significant buildings 740 Park Avenue
834 Fifth Avenue

Rosario Candela (b. March 07, 1890, d. October 03, 1953) was an American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the city's characteristic terraced setbacks and signature penthouses.[1]


Rosario Candela's striking flatiron building at 47 Plaza Street West, Brooklyn, New York
Rosario Candela's striking flatiron building at 47 Plaza Street West, Brooklyn, New York



Contents

[edit] Life

[edit] Early life and education

Born in Montelepre, Sicily in 1890, Candela immigrated to New York in 1906.[2][3] His father was Michelle Candela, a plasterer, and his Mother was Josephine Pizzurro. He gained admission to the Columbia University School of Architecture and graduated in 1915.[4] Keenly aware of his immense talents, he went so far as to erect a velvet rope around his drafting table to prevent other students from copying his designs.[5]

[edit] Career

After graduation, Candela worked briefly for another Italian architect Gaetano Ajello. After another brief stint with the firm of Fredrick Sterner, Candela set up his own practice in 1920. His first major commission was for an apartment house on 92nd and Broadway. Shortly thereafter, he received his first commission for an East Side apartment at 1105 Park Avenue.[6]. During the next five years, Candela designed a number of residential buildings on the Upper West Side, primarily on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive[6]. During this period, the West side was undergoing an intense transformation from an area of primarily single family homes to one characterized by the apartment buildings that, for the most part, still stand.

Candela's greatest work would occur during the latter half of the 1920s when he designed numerous apartment buildings on the East side, primarily on Fifth and Park avenues, as well as at Sutton Place and other locations. In 1927 and 1928, Candela designed a total of 19 apartment buildings including 960 Fifth Avenue (at 77th Street) and 720 Park Avenue (at 70th Street).[7]1929 brought even more commissions, but the housing boom had begun to slow prior to the stock market crash in October. Of 27 total designs that year, only 12 were completed. These included 740, 770, 778 and 1280 Park Avenue and 834 and 1040 Fifth Avenue.[7]

The exteriors of his buildings tended to be somewhat understated, particularly in view of some of the more exuberant styles popular during the period. However, he was considered a master of design when it came to the interiors. Many apartments were constructed as duplex residences with grand entry foyers, curved, freestanding stairways and dramatic public rooms. Some of the designs were palatial by even the considerable standards of the day. Although not initially designed for the family, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. triplex at 740 Park Avenue may be the grandest apartment in all of the city. At more than 20,000 square feet, "it had, depending on who was counting, anywhere from twenty-three to thirty-seven rooms, the discrepancy caused by such questions as whether one included hallways and foyers the size of ballrooms, servants quarters, and the fourteen bathrooms."[5].

During the Great Depression work fell off dramatically and Candela received only sporadic commissions. While the quantity declined considerably, the quality of his designs rarely suffered. During this time, he expressed his interest in codes and ciphers, publishing two books on the topic.[7] He continued his practice up until the time of his death in 1953.

[edit] Cryptology

Rosario Candela was a notable amateur cryptologist. Candela began studying cryptology in 1930 after learning about the accomplishments of the Army Signal Corps in WWI.[8] Candela decrypted messages originally coded in 1898 by Commandant Étienne Bazeries of the French Army. Commandant Bazeries was “one of the most brilliant cryptologists of” his era[9] and he developed an encryption method considered unbreakable.[10] Candela wrote a book The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries in 1938 detailing how he broke the code developed by Commandant Bazeries, a code that had previously never been broken.[11] Starting in 1941, Candela taught a class on cryptography and cryptanalytics at Hunter College in New York. At the time, the course was considered the only one of its kind offered to the public in the United States.[8]

[edit] Legacy

Today, Candela-designed buildings, most of which are now owned by their residents through cooperative ownership structures, are some of the most expensive and sought after addresses in New York.

[edit] Work

[edit] Buildings

(All within New York City unless otherwise noted.)

[edit] 1920s

  • Clayton Apartments, 1922
  • 915 West End Avenue, 1922
  • 1105 Park Avenue, 1923
  • 878 West End Avenue, 1923
  • 522 West End Avenue, 1923
  • 41 Fifth Avenue, 1923
  • 320 West End Avenue, 1924
  • Charleton Apartments, 1924
  • 875 West End Avenue, 1924
  • 865 West End Avenue, 1924
  • 755 West End Avenue, 1924
  • 334 West 86th Street, 1924
  • 425 Riverside Drive, 1924
  • 240 West End Avenue, 1924
  • 40 West 55th Street, 1924
  • 315 West 106th Street, 1925
  • Wellston Apartments, 1925
  • 855 Fifth Avenue, 1926
  • 1172 Park Avenue, 1926
  • 325 West 86th Street, 1926
  • 820 West End Avenue, 1926
  • 607 West End Avenue, 1926
  • 285 Riverside Drive, 1926
  • Oxford Tower (280 Riverside Drive), 1926
  • Berkeley Plaza Apts, 39 Plaza Street West, Brooklyn, 1926
  • Brazilian Court Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida, 1925.
  • W New York - The Court, 1927
  • 775 Park Avenue, 1927
  • 884 Fifth Avenue, 1927
  • 990 Fifth Avenue, with Warren & Wetmore, 1927
  • 1 Sutton Place Apartments, 1927
  • The Windsor Park (100 West 58th Street), 1927
  • The Van Doran, 1927
  • 230 West End Avenue, 1927
  • 2 East 67th Street (also known as 856 5th Avenue), 1928
  • 4 Sutton Place, 1928
  • 25 Sutton Place, 1928
  • 2 East 70th Street, 1928
  • 8 East 96th Street, 1928
  • 447 East 57th Street, 1928
  • 30 Sutton Place, 1928
  • 47 Plaza Street West, Brooklyn, 1928
  • Westwind Apartments, 1928
  • 360 Central Park West (North and South Buildings), 1928
    • including Second Presbyterian Church[12], 4 West 96th Street
  • 1 Gracie Square, 1929
  • 14 Sutton Place South, 1929
  • 1192 Park Avenue, 1929
  • 70 East 96th Street Apartments, 1929
  • 133 East 80th Street, 1929[13]
  • 720 Park Avenue, 1929
  • 40 West 67 Street[6], 1929
  • 740 Park Avenue, with Shreve & Lamb, 1929[14]
  • Stanhope Hotel, 1929[15]
  • 1040 Fifth Avenue, 1929

[edit] 1930s

  • 1220 Park Avenue, 1930
  • 770 Park Avenue, 1930[16]
  • 1040 Fifth Avenue, 1930
  • 1021 Park Avenue, 1930
  • 834 Fifth Avenue, 1930
  • 1500 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 1931
  • 56 Seventh Avenue, 1931
  • 778 Park Avenue, 1931[16]
  • 2 Beekman Place, 1932
  • 3 Times Square (Rialto Theatre), 1935 (replaced by Reuters Building, 2001)
  • Normandie Theatre (51 East 53rd Street), 1936 (demolished in the 1950s)
  • 19 East 72nd Street, with Mott Schmidt, 1936[17]
  • Regency Park, 1937
  • 955 Fifth Avenue, 1938

[edit] 1940s

  • 44 East 67th Street, 1941
  • 135 East 54th Street, 1948
  • 1 East 66th Street, 1948

[edit] 1950s

[edit] Projects

  • 960 Fifth Avenue, with Warren & Wetmore, 1929

[edit] Books

  • Candela, Rosario (1938). The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries — An Essay in Decrypting. New York: Cardanus Press. OCLC 814084. 
  • Candela, Rosario (1946). Isomorphism and Its Applications in Cryptanalytics. New York: Cardanus Press. OCLC 708605. 

[edit] Resources

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Lee, Linda (2001-10-11). CURRENTS: ARCHITECTURE; An Inside Look At Grand Apartments. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  2. ^ U.S. Immigration Service. List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival (Ship Manifest), Immigration Service Form 500 B. S.S. Napolitan Prince sailing from Palermo on November 12, 1906 and arriving in Port of New York on November 27, 1906. American Family Immigration History Center (Ellis Island Archives) posted this manifest online at www.ellisisland.org.
  3. ^ U.S. Immigration Service. List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival (Ship Manifest), Immigration Service Form 500 B. S.S. Sicilian Prince sailing from Palermo on October 22, 1906 and arriving in Port of New York on November 08, 1906. American Family Immigration History Center (Ellis Island Archives) posted this manifest online at www.ellisisland.org.
  4. ^ Gray, Christopher (1988-09-11). Apartments by Candela: Grandest of the Grand. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  5. ^ a b Gross, Michael (2005). 740 Park : The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building. New York: Broadway Books, 4, 38. ISBN 0385512090. OCLC 60669137. 
  6. ^ a b c Alpern, Andrew (2001). The New York Apartment Houses of Rosario Candela and James Carpenter. New York: Acanthus Press. ISBN 0926494201. OCLC 46385874.  Excerpted from book review by Carter B. Horsley.
  7. ^ a b c Gray, Christopher (2006-02-05). A Renowned Architect's Less Renowned Designs. The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b New York Times. “Deciphering Military Codes Is Course In Hunter College Evening Division”, September 28, 1941, D7.
  9. ^ Candela, Rosario. The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 3.
  10. ^ Candela, Rosario. The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 10.
  11. ^ Candela, Rosario. The Military Cipher of Commandant Bazeries (New York: Cardanus Press, 1938), 9-10.
  12. ^ Second Presbyterian Church. Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  13. ^ Gray, Christopher (2004-09-05). Streetscapes: An Elegant 1920's Building at an Unshowy Address. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  14. ^ Gray, Christopher (1990-10-21). Streetscapes: 740 Park Avenue; Repairs for a '29 Luxury Co-op. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  15. ^ Barbanel, Josh (2006-11-09). A Classic Candela With a Storied Past, but Few Takers. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  16. ^ a b Gray, Christopher (2003-06-08). Streetscapes: 770 and 778 Park Avenue, at 73rd Street; Fraternal-Twin Examples of East Side Superluxury. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.
  17. ^ Gray, Christopher (1996-09-29). A 30's Building Where the Duplex Was King. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.

[edit] External links